A Different Kind of Joy
by Salt-Upon-Wounds
Summary: A more loose Shinji, giving into the life he chose and fully loving it. Hope y'all enjoy. P.S. Fair warning, I decided to rewrite, and took down some of the older chapters. I will be re-uploading them when I am happy about the way they turned out.
1. Chapter 1: So much happier in the woods

Blah, Blah, Blah, first story, blah, enjoy.

Do not own anything from NGE or Gainax, y'all have fun.

Shinji will be featuring in First Person, only way I can figure to do this easily. Also should mention, not the most sane kid on earth.

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><p>"Yeah, don't take this personally but I could really not give any less of a shit about it." I said to the man sitting in front of me.<p>

"Your father is summoning you to Tokyo-3. He also has taken back all parental rights. You are required by law to go back to him." The suited man said.

"What part of "I. DO. NOT. GIVE. A. SHIT. Do you not understand?" I asked back, somewhat annoyed.

"Look, I can understand your dislike for your father but the law dictates you are a minor, so we are either going to allow you to go there yourself, or we will take you there."

"And how exactly do you plan on forcing me to go anywhere?" I asked.

"Same way we do for every minor. We put them in the back seat and deliver them back to their parents." He said.

"Can I have one sec? Got to take a piss." I asked.

"Feel free. You might also want to be a little less vulgar."

"Okay then how about this. I wish for you to take your paperwork and shove it into the darkest crevice on your body, so far up there that it will never see the light of day again. It would please me very much. Then I would like for you to leave the confines of this house. By law, I am pretty sure you have to have a warrant to even come in here. Along with the fact that you do not, I am asking you nicely to leave. Thank you for your time." I said then stood up and headed to the bathroom.

"Damn this kid is annoying." One of the men in the room said as I walked out the door.

Entering the bathroom I unzipped my pants and took a whiz. "Fuck these guys." I said before zipping up my pants. I went over to the sink and washed my hand then flushed the toilet, hoping the noise would block out the noise I was about to make. I quickly headed over to the window and lifted it up, then pushed out the screen. Looking at the house that had served as my home for ten or so years was a bit saddening, but, I figured "Eh... Fuck it." then jumped out the window.

"Sir, the child is gone." Someone up above yelled.

I started running towards the woods that surrounded the area of which I lived. I figured I could escape them there. "Safe." I whispered to myself when I disappeared along the tree line. If anything they would spend days looking for me. I had the woods mapped out in my head, knowing every creek and hole from my time I had spent here over the years.

Day 1

Slowly exploring the inside of the cave I discovered it went down further than I expected. When I was finally done searching I noticed that a part of the cave led into a mining shaft, making this the perfect spot to hide away and escape if need be. "Now I need water." I said to myself before leaving my new found home for the time being. I had to walk farther than my usual distance from outside the house. I had spent a majority of this morning and afternoon just hiking away from that place. I didn't want to have to travel to Tokyo-3, much less be anywhere near my father. In fact, every time someone even mentioned that man I decided that I wanted nothing more than to rip his bloody head off. He had discarded me after my mother's "supposed" death before I was even five. Most of the rumors led to the fact that he might have been the one to do it. I didn't care either way. I really didn't care about the fact that he might of done it. I disliked the idea of being anywhere near my "parents." They were useless, serving no purpose in my life.

Day 7

I sighed looking at my latest catch. I had found a small pit and turned it into trap for food, inside was a feral boar, it was still alive and screaming it's head off. I climbed down into the pit slowly, not wanting to injure myself. I took my knife from the wooden shaft I had mounted it on to make a spear and sliced the boar's neck, serving to silence it and kill it. I then pulled the boar off the spikes, tying it to some rope I had braided from various vines around the area. After I had accomplished that I got out of pit and hauled the rope up to get my catch.

I slowly approached camp. Couldn't be too safe with all the commotion. The police were still searching the area for me. I thought by now they would have given up. They hadn't searched this hard when a killer was going around the area, wiping out the "undesirables" of society, so why would they think it better to search for me now? My cave was decidedly safe. I tied a rock to one end of the rope I had made earlier, and threw it over a tree. Once it came back down on the other side I pulled the boar into a position that I could skin it from. I had much experience surviving in the woods. I hated being around other people. Eventually the chore was done and I now had enough meat and skin to last me awhile, along with a new pair of blankets if I could get the fat off. That night I feasted on the flesh of my kill.

Day 17

"FUCK!" I screamed as pain slowly started to invade my back, then replaced by numbness. Looking around I saw a dart sticking out of my back. "GOD DAMN IT!" I yelled, then charged the bush I was sure the dart had come from. To my surprise a man jumped out as I shoved my makeshift spear into the bush. He screamed as the spear dug into his leg. "I AM SO GOING TO KILL YOU!" I said before everything started going black, along with three or four more stinging sensations that rippled across my body. "I... SHIT..." I said before I passed out.

"God damn this kid was hard to catch." A man said behind the glass window.

"You don't know the half of it." Another said, agreeing.

"Mr. Ikari, after this little stunt we have no choice but to return you to your father." The suited man from before said.

Staying deathly silent I glared at him. I then tried lifting my hands from where they were cuffed into the table. "FUCK!" I yelled, obviously pissed.

"You have no choice but to come with us." The man said with a smirk.

"Fine. Whatever." I said.

The next few hours were a long ride in a locked down police car, with me reading a folder silently in the back. It didn't explain much about this NERV organization that I would be going near but it did give me a few details about who was going to pick me up, along with a picture of the woman. "Does she have no shame?" I asked aloud when I saw the photo. It was a attractive woman wearing very little with a writing that said "Look here!" pointing at her breasts.

My name is Shinji, I am currently 14, or at least I think so. I am heading to Tokyo 3 to go see my father after he has neglected me for 3 or so years, not that I have not enjoyed my time. First I tried to run away, and that hadn't worked. Now I decided that a little payback was in order; however that stopped short when I arrived.

I saw what I thought was a ghost flash down the street. It was a girl in a school uniform, blue hair, white skin. She was a beautiful sight. I then noticed a bunch of aircraft fly right down the same street and she disappeared into thin air. Once of the aircraft rebounded close to me, into a building. An explosion rang out into the afternoon air, nearing me with ever passing millisecond. While I was watching when a car screeched right next to me. The woman who's picture I had received earlier today pulled me into her car and started speeding down the road, she seemed excited about the action and destruction going on and rightfully so, my blood was almost on fire when I started to see the ruble some of the buildings were reduced to when she started talking.

"So you are Gendo's son, I can barely see the resemblance." She said.

"Eh, I barely remember what my father looks like to tell you the truth." Which was true to a certain degree, I could not exactly remember what his face looked like because it was readily replaced by whoever in the past I found to be irritating. I honestly believed I had seen his face on every single corpse that I had either left in that state, or happened upon. I shoved this feeling back down.

"So, your father called you into Tokyo 3, want to know why?" She asked.

I thought for a minute and decided on the most truthful answer: "I really don't care but I have a suspicion that I am going to be used in some form or fashion knowing that man."

'Shit this kid is intelligent. I might want to remember not to get on his bad side, he might BE like his dad.' "We are almost to NERV headquarters, you are about to find out." she said with a smile (though I really didn't care it looked fake at this point.)

Once inside the car was lowered onto a platform that went down into the earth. Looking around I saw everything below.

"This is the Geofront." The purple haired woman said.

"Okay, well, where are we supposed to be going?" I asked.

"To meet your father." She responded and I shut up.

The rest of the ride down was in silence, other than the woman mentioning that "I was just like her." She had apparently had issues with her father when she was a child too. When we had finally reached an elevator we got out of the car and were lowered deeper into the earth. We finally got to a maze of pathways before she took my hand and stepped on one, pulling me along with her.

A quarter of an hour had passed before I decided to say it. "And we are lost. Aren't we?"

"Look, I am new here too. Don't judge. At least these walkways move by themselves, I mean, we could be walking right now? You want to do that?" She asked looking back at me.

"Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, please pick up your phone." The speakers around the place groaned out. Before anything else could happen the moving pathway dropped us in front of a elevator. A blond woman in a swimsuit stepped out.

"Don't tell me you are already lost Misato." The blond woman said.

"Oh don't worry about that Rits." The purple haired woman named Misato said.

"I really should have read that picture." I groaned aloud, realizing that her name was probably on it.

"So, this is the Third Child." Dr. Ritsuko said, motioning toward me. "He doesn't look like much."

"More than you could handle." I said sarcastically back.

Her grin was immediately replaced with a frown. "Get him to the Eva cages." She said before stepping out of the elevator.

"Nice job kid, didn't know you had it in you!" Misato said laughing.

"Had what?" I asked thoroughly confused.

She just sighed and pushed a button. We were rushed down the elevator shaft toward the lake below. There was a gate with yellow and black bands on it, as if to say caution. When the elevator stopped we began to walk toward them.

Once we got into the gates I heard a loud explosion taking place, euphoria shocking my whole system, I loved it when I could feel the earth quake beneath my feet, soaking in the absolute feeling of power, though it didn't last long. I was being escorted by Misato to the Eva cages, once there I saw a sight I quickly took an offense to, my father.

"Good you are here." He said with perfect balance. "Prep Unit 01 for launch."

Upon him saying that I look around the room and notice a giant abomination of purple and green, not that I have anything against those colors but as my gut instinct always went with Black and White as a color scheme, I mean, my psyche's didn't allow for much choosing, between the unhindered psycho who in my head told me to kill everything in this room and the Taoist monk preaching 'don't let it get to you, you should just go with the flow' everything seemed in place. I could usually find a peace in being between these two personalities, most of the time ignoring them, or being to busy to really notice them. Then again I was usually outside in nature. Freedom had a way about shutting off the voices in my head, but today seemed so different ~

"Shinji are you listening? Get in the Eva." My father ordering me about.

"FUCK YOU." I responded not knowing what he was talking about, going with what I had wanted to say since he had left me.

"Shinji!" Misato gasped.

"Yeah sorry bout that, but that catches up on all the business I had here. Can someone please take me back now?" I asked aloud.

"Shinji, we really need to you pilot the Eva." She said.

"Gonna guess that is the massive purple monster mech? Yeah, no. I have no idea how the thing works. Not to mention, have no prior training in the thing. Plus, I have no reason to even care about it. As far as I am concerned, helping him (I pointed toward my father) is not exactly something I feel like doing." I said, finishing my speech.

"The Third Child is useless, bring out the first, she will be more useful than this one ever will." He seemed to be playing his hand, as a girl as pale as a ghost, the one I had seen on the street, but with many more wounds, was wheeled out on a stretcher.

Another explosion shook the base, she began to fall, and I bolted toward her, this girl was in pain, and as I figured it, my father probably caused it. After picking her up another explosion shook the place. The beam above us began to fall and before I could curse my father for endangering another soul when we were saved by the purple mech. Its arm reached out and blocked the beam above us, saving us momentarily. I sat her on the stretcher. She was sound asleep, I figured she passed out because of the excitement, or the massive amount of pain she was in.

"God damn it. I'll do it." I couldn't let him send out this girl to die. I knew that is exactly what he was planning to do too. I found my voice carrying more resentment than I usually allowed. Though he didn't seem to notice.

"Good" he said as he threw a suit at me, latex looking, but at least it was black.

I headed into the changing room that I was shown too, and quickly discarded my clothing for this suit. After I had it on I went up to where I was directed the placed inside a tube. 'God I wish I just killed everything when I walked in here' I mused to myself. The liquid began pouring in, slowly but surely, an orange liquid started to flow all around me, noticing it's scent, I began to fall into a trance, I was drowning in blood, I dreamed of going this way, just not in the most literal sense.

"Don't worry, it hyperoxyginated, just breath as you normally would." A female voice started to say over the intercom. Slowly I began to breath it in and out, feeling the liquid flowing in and out of my lungs. I felt as the tube was tilted then screwed into some sort of socket. I could not see, it was pitch black."We are going to power up unit one now, try not to do anything rash." Misato said over the intercom. "Cable attached, powering -" My mind was immediately assaulted by a force I could only guess was the "Evangelion."

"Kill" it repeated over and over again, my inner psycho started chiming in with it. "AGREED, ITS TIME TO KILL SHIT, oh someone else is in this beast with us, I wonder what would happen -" It was cut off by a scream that I could only guess was female as the beast yelled "PURGE, KILL, DEATH, FREEDOM?" Whoever was in the Eva with us was forcibly removed. I felt the soul being ripped straight out of the Eva, it was a good feeling of revenge but against who, I didn't know. Laughter filled the space then Psycho replied, "I think this is going to be fun, I pledge you that I will help you become free and destroy anything that gets in our way." Slowly the Eva made a decision, "YES."

"Unit 01, Launch" Misato yelled into the intercom. The Eva began to rise at breathtaking speed, going faster and faster till I was launched through the top of a roof that was barely open enough for the Eva to fit through. As I landed I noticed that before I got in this thing, I HAD NO CLUE HOW TO OPERATE THE DAMN THING. The angel had grabbed onto my head and then I was struck, again and again, I began feeling pain I should not have been ~

"Shinji, the Eva works through the controls in front of you along with your sync ratio. Your sync ratio is how balanced you are with your Eva and how much control you have over it." Then the voice was cut off as I was struck again, this time launched into a set of building.

Then I got pissed, "FUCK YOU, I AM GOING TO ENJOY RIPPING YOUR UH WHATEVER THAT THING IS OUT OF YOU" I shouted over the speakers. How dare the angel (awful name for something that was attacking us, in no form was it "angelic") use me to destroy things, it took the fun from me doing it myself, lamenting over the chance I would never get again.

"He's lost it" the channel to Nerv headquarters began to scream, along with an order to withdraw me from the Eva, "Send the ejection codes."

"The Eva is rejecting the codes, and sent us a message back, "FUCK YOU." The people at Nerv began to worry.

With that, I closed the com channel and began to allow Psycho to take control, he was always much better at these situations, not to mention sense I had gotten into the beast he and it were hitting it off big time, plus I WAS LITTERALLY SUBMERGED IN A POOL OF BLOOD, suffice to say, it was rather easy. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU." I yelled as I charged the angel, it withstood the initial assault of me running into full speed, but not well enough to keep it from being dazed. Psycho(Me/I, I no longer know) took this split second to take the angel's mask and rip it off. The angel started to shrieked in the pain.

I began to feel a bit euphoric, never in my life had I sensed so much pain and suffering. I realized long ago I was a sadist, though my gratification was not in the sexual kind, it just gave me a high I could not get doing anything else, though I reserved it only for people, and know these 'angels.' I would not hurt a living animal if I could avoid it, other than the minor slip ups when my body needed it, I even abstained from eating meat, unless I killed it. I had no want to make an animal suffer, but people, they DESERVED it, they NEEDED it. I felt alive when I saw suffering, no matter the cause. So, I lapsed into my high and began to follow my instinct from that point on.

Opening the Eva's mouth, feeling everything it was feeling, tasting the air on my/its (I could not honestly tell at this point, nor care) tongue, I began to feed, first I ripped the angel's arm off, then when it started to yell, I bit into its throat ripping and tearing my way, feeling the flesh in my mouth as I ate it. The angel stopped as if it went into shock, though I didn't know if it was possible, I found my animalistic high. When I was finally stuffed, I began ripping out the angel's core. The angel then wrapped itself around my Eva and exploded. I felt the liquid inside my plug pressurize against the blast. I was shaken into half-consciousness, then I was out. My last conscious thought was 'MORE.'

End: Chapter One

A/N: And I decided to rewrite a few/all chapters that I thought didn't add up in the story. They should overall stay the same, just have a few more explaining lines in them, if not change completely. Have fun.


	2. Chapter 2: New Living Arrangements

Chapter 2, SSDD/Living arrangements.

Blah, Blah, Gainax owns everything, NGE included, blah, I don't, blah.

'Well, FUCK' I thought to myself when I woke up. I was on a hospital bed, no idea where or when, didn't really care either other than the extreme pain in my arm caused by an IV -Wait, what the hell is an IV doing in my arm? I immediately tore it off and looked around. My clothes were in a chair close by and I quickly threw off the gown, changing into my real clothes. White shirt, black pants, black boots. I began to return to normality.

Soon as that was done I headed out until a really cheeky nurse started freaking out when they checked my ex-room, then bolted. I didn't get very far when I saw the ghost girl sitting up in her bed staring at me. She was in full hospital dress. A cast over one arm and a bandage over her eye. She didn't look to be in pain, but I didn't think it would hurt to ask if she needed anything. That, and she probably knew the way out of here much better than I did.

"Sup?" I said as I walked into the whitewashed room.

"Sup? What does that expression mean?" she replied collected.

"You don't get out much do you? Oh well, Sup is a short way of saying What's up or Hello, or any other greeting, it is also used for asking what do you need." I explained.

"Noted," was the only thing the Blue haired girl said.

'This is getting nowhere fast I thought.' "My name is Ikari Shinji, it's nice to meet you." The injured girl began to introduce herself (after much prodding) when alarms began going off, I guessed that was my fault.

"My name is Ayanami Rei." she finally got out.

"Well, Rei," I started to ask with as much charm as I possibly could,"do you know how I could get out of this place?"

Rei replied much to my dislike, "I cannot allow you to do that. You are the pilot to Unit 01. You must stay here."

Suddenly the door was opened when Misato charged through it, she looked a little beyond pissed. That or worried. I was too busy trying to shut the door behind her. I really did not want to get found, especially if they were going to stick me into another room.

"THERE YOU ARE," she practically screamed. "Do you know what could happen if you were seen around here without an ID card? Hmm? They would shoot you and drag your body out of here into a mass grave then burn~" "Hello Rei" she said when noticed the frowning (I could not really tell because this girl expressed almost no emotion) girl.

"Hello Captain Katsuragi." Rei replied.

"I'll leave the both of you alone then." then started yelling down the halls that she has found me.

With that I finally turned back to Rei and said "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?" She asked.

I started to explain, "A. You got rid of her, B. You gave me reason to even stay in this hellhole they call the Geofront."

"I did?" She asked seemingly amused at the idea.

"Yeah, if not for my bastard of a father pulling that little stunt with you on the stretcher, I would have probably walked out." I said.

With this she slapped me, "You will not speak of the Commander that way."

"What the fuck?" I sounded sour and I knew it, "The asshole leaves me right after my mother dies or maybe he killed her, then demands I man the fuck up, when he does finally decide to remember I am alive, HE GUILT TRIPS ME INTO SAVING HIS LIFE BY USING YOU AS A PAWN. You should probably be more pissed at him then me at this point."

"My life is replaceable." she looked down. She said it with no faltering in her voice, as if she truly believed that if she died, all that would happen is she would be replaced.

Getting a little angry with her I finally replied, "Look, as far as I am concerned, you could be an alien from outer space, but as long as I am here, you WILL be treated with a little more care. You will also learn to MAN the FUCK UP. People are not replaceable, I WILL not listen to any EMO BULLSHIT. When you finally decide to apologize, which you can feel free to do so, otherwise I am leaving."

She glared at me "I am sorry," she said with an anger that was a little more than unnerving but seeing as I have seen MUCH worse, I just passed it off.

"I am not stupid. I can see that the only reason you are saying this is because you want me to stay at the Geofront" I assumed. Knowing she had been seen through

"I would like to continue this conversation at another time, but would you please leave." She said rather flatly.

"Sure, get some rest, I still expect an apology, when you figure out what you are supposed to be apologizing for that is." I halfway joked.

As I was leaving I swear I heard a whisper of "thank you." Though I decided to leave it alone. Misato was waiting right outside, noticeably pissed

"Sorry Lover boy but we got to leave." She said.

"Um, no offense but WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" I nearly lost it there, "LOOK AT THIS SHIT! THIS GIRL IS BROKEN, BRAINWASHED, AND NONE, I REPEAT N-O-N-E, OF YOU PEOPLE SEEM TO GIVE A SHIT! SHE IS A HUMAN BEING, JUST LIKE YOU AND ME! YET YOU USE HER TIL SHE IS BROKEN?" Finally starting to calm down at a noticeably frightened Misato, "Look, all I want is some peace and quiet ('and some shit to kill but that will come later I said in my head') and someone to help her, you all seem to avoid this room like it is a plague."

Misato began to apologize, "Wow, I have never even thought, I am sorry."

"I am too. I lost my temper, and I know better than to do that." Letting the monk, that for some reason stayed in my skull, take over, "sometimes it takes an outsider to show people what they are doing wrong, I just wish that I had not caused this much of scene about it."

With that, Misato began to say, "Well at least you got everyone around to think about their actions. I mean, with the only person who visiting her being Gend~"

I cut her off, "I would much prefer you refrained from using that man's name in front of me."

"Sore spot I suppose?" she asked.

"You could say that." I replied.

As we continued our conversation she finally began to pick back up and went haywire. She became really preppy in a moments notice, "Oh by the way, here is your ID card," as she handed it to me, "Notice anything about the address on it?" she asked.

"Er... No..." I replied.

She immediately seemed to slow down a sec, "OH that's right, I haven't told you yet, You will be living with me! It's going to be so much f"~

"HOLD IT" I started, "Look no offense but uh, A. I DO NOT KNOW YOU, don't you think it is a little odd to have a 14 year old boy staying with a 20 something year old female? B. Who said I was staying?" I asked. We had just turned into the hallway that had the elevator in it.

"The Commander demanded that you stay and seeing as he is technically in charge of you, you will be doing as you are told, got it?" she replied.

Growling, and probably pouting, I replied "Yes Ma'am."

She immediately switching back to preppy, "Oh don't give me that face, You'll be starting school next week too" She said excitedly, "Crap that means you will need more clothes."

When we approached the elevator, it's door opened and my father was standing right in front of me. For several seconds we stood, not moving out of the way for the other, not exchanging any words either. He finally relented to pressing another button. The doors closed and the glowing number kept going down until it stopped.

"Shinji, you might want to stop growling like an animal." Misato said in all seriousness.

"Huh? What?" I asked forgetting the tension of a few seconds ago.

"You realize that you just growled at your father right?" She asked.

"Bastard deserves much worse than that." I commented going back into my own thoughts. She dragged me into the elevator that rang on our floor. She pressed a button and we started going up. The glass window showed the distance between the bottom part of the Geofront and the the top part. NERV headquarters was much lower than I expected. The cavern looked nearly two to three miles deep. The bright orange color in the darkness was the only thing that separated the floor from the ceiling. I then noticed Misato was talking.

Shutting her out I just continued to keep gazing outward while repeating in my head, Kill, Maim, Kill, Burn, Maim, Kill, Eat, Rip, Tear, etc, etc. Finally stopping she handed me a check "This is your pay check, it is a month at a time, part of it is cut to go into an account for when you become an adult." Noticing the figure on the check I began to think, this might actually be enjoyable, now if only I could get things to follow suit.

When we finally left the Geofront, she drove straight past the apartments she pointed out as being "Your new home." I kept looking across the woods that surrounded the area. Not matter what I had a deep feeling that they would be more like a home to me then Misato's apartment ever would.

She then spoke up, "First we are going somewhere a little more fun." When she finally stopped the car (and her mouth for a minute) she told me to step out and watch. What I saw was to be honest, amazing, I watched as the city started to form from the ground. Building by building started rising out of the ground. I watched as red lights started to flash around, notifying all that the safety bunkers were coming back up. The city slowly started to light up as people returned the city to life.

"So that's how the city manages the destruction." I said.

"YEP" was her only reply.

After about half an hour she guided me to the car, and then she drove to "home."

"Shinji, what's wrong?" She asked when I stopped at the door.

"Its just the fact that I am not used to this." I answered honestly. I was not used to having someone else live with me, not only that, but someone in charge of me, it seemed so different to everything that happened up until now.

"Well, this is your home now. You are going to have to get used to it!" Misato said with a large grin.

When I stepped inside the first thing I noticed was the scent of stale beer, then the mess, finally thinking 'O' Ye' gods, look and despair!' Looking around for any reprieve I notice a penguin.

"Sup?"

"Wark."

"Oh that's Pen Pen, don't worry about him." She tossed him a beer from a bag. "You want one?" she asked holding it in front of me, offering, the label proudly declaring it was YEBISU.

"I am underage to be drinking shite beer." I replied.

Noticing the shite comment she began to say "Oh Mr. Lover boy knows a better beer then?"

"Actually, no not a better beer, however I would love some Fireball Whiskey and some apple juice." I replied with my most honest voice.

"Oh, a hard drinker is he now? This WILL be fun." I immediately became uncomfortable at that comment. I will admit, I had never slept with a girl, nor did I want to at this particular time, I had too much shit on my plate to even think about the idea of a relationship, much less actively pursue one. "Lighten up, I am just kidding" She said, noticing the blank look on my face.

Dinner was nothing but a bunch of instant foods, not any of them particularly edible. "Why aren't you eating?" She asked.

"Sorry, I am just not used to it." I replied.

"ARE YOU FINIKY?" She yelled and leaned directly over the table, providing a great view of her cleavage.

"Not exactly what I meant." I was trying to keep my eyes from wandering down. It didn't help that all she war wearing was a small pair of shorts and a yellow tank top.

"Isn't this nice!" She said smiling, once again going to her cheerful side. After she was done giving a slightly large speech she added. "This is your home now. Feel free to take advantage of everything here. Except of course, me, that is." She said, winking.

"Er... Yes ma'am?" I said.

"Was that a question?" She asked.

"No... I don't think I honestly would want to take advantage of you." I said.

"WHAT?" She screamed, "DON'T YOU THINK I AM HOT?" She asked.

"That really wouldn't matter much. My moral compass pretty much dictates on things I can do, and can't do. Forgive the double entendre, but Misato, you are something I cannot do." I said waving my hands and smiling, as if to dismiss the issue.

She seemed to drop the issue after that and finally passed out in her room, I decided on CLEANING THIS PLACE. IT WAS NOT LIVABLE. I honestly could not stand the smell, or anything else for that matter. Some might call trophies a waste or disgusting but this was just awful. I filled many bags with rotten instant food. I didn't even know if instant food could rot. I poured out stale beer and started bagging the cans. After that was all said and done I found a plastic box and wrote CANS on the side of it. I finally finished about 2 in the morning and found my "room." I was asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.

"Shinji, wake up!" Misato came into my room and started poking me. "Come on Shinji, we have stuff to do today!" She kept poking me.

Slowly I opened my eyes and beheld a Misato with nothing but a towel on. I instantly went against the wall and probably turned white. "DO YOU HAVE NO SHAME?" I asked.

"About what?" She asked smiling, then noticed her "dress." "Oh this, don't worry about it. I need to wait until laundry is done. You also need to get ready, we have stuff we have to do today."

During the day, I learned a lot more about Misato, NERV, and everything in general. We went "clothes shopping" for me. I picked out a package of 10 and 10 White and Black T- shirts, some unmentionables, black socks, 10 pairs of black denim jeans, a few white collared dress shirts, some black ones too.

She finally broke in "Don't you think you need a little more color? All you have got is black and white."

I slowly thought up an answer. "Just as loud noises distract the ear, and potent smells destroy the nose, too many colors kill the eye, besides, I like black and white, they seem perfect together not to mention, favorite colors. That is unless I go hunting. Then I might get me some tan colored clothing, and maybe a pelt cape. I wonder what kind of wildlife they have around here."

She then mused, "How would you like if Unit 01 got a new black and white coating of paint? I am think Black base, white chest, head, and hands."

I immediately perked up, "That would be much better than that Purple and green mesh.

As we were leaving I saw a black leather jacket, in a second hand shop window. One of the sleeves was missing a snap but I could fix that later, for now, I just wanted it. I walked in and purchased the jacket. It was a size or two too big but I figured I would grow. I found a small dog tag chain that I looped through the broken snap and snap hook and closed it.

The rest of the day was exploring Tokyo-3, or as Misato kept saying, the city I helped save. I was still not too happy with the idea of staying here. I didn't know the sky, the smells, or anyone around here save Misato, and it didn't help that in knowing that I was staying, I would have to pilot the Eva again, which meant doing another favor for the bastard I called my father.

We got home late that night. After we made a chore list, I got most of the chores except doing Misato's laundry. I made dinner with a few of the things we picked up. Then she set some ground rules (some of which I immediately started to ignore.) A. No drinking on school nights, B. No staying up past 12 on school nights. C. No loud noises until 8 a.m. List went on but I wasn't paying attention. When she was finished I went and washed all of my new clothing and took a shower. It was nice to finally have the time after I got out of that damned hospital.

That night when I was going to bed Misato took it upon herself to actually make sure I was okay with how things turned out. "Oh and by the way, Good luck with school tomorrow." With that I hit a bump in the road. I had never had anyone actually care about what I did much less try to show affection. Not knowing how to handle it I nearly broke down, the only thing holding it back was the psycho in my head screaming "HOW DARE SHE, HOW DARE HER TO TAKE AWAY FROM MY TROUBLES, SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IT HAS BEEN LIKE." I thanked her then just grew silent. She left my room 3 minutes later out of the awkward silence.

That night, I wanted to cry myself to sleep, only holding on to my sheer anger did my heart finally go back to normal and I fell into a deep sleep.

"GRAH! DIE DAMNIT DIE!" I kept ripping into the angel, again and again. I was dreaming about the last battle. After the angel had exploded, my Eva's helm had fallen off. There was a giant hole where one of the eyes should have been. "FUCK YOU! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!" I kept yelling, while trying to beat on the side of my plug, as if to kill my Eva. They eye regrew as I was watching it. The coms were still off, but I didn't notice. The pressure in the plug rose. I remembered thinking again and again "MORE."

End Chapter 2

TEAR THE FLESH, SALT THE WOUND HAHAHAHAHAHAHA


	3. Chapter 3: New Friends, and Intrests

Chapter 3: First Week and a Half

Disclaimer: I don't own NGE.

"What is wrong with you people?" I asked the man in the black suit again, he was about six foot tall, large of body, muscle, not fat. Ever since I woke up today I had been followed from the house, all the way into this alley. I had planned on escaping my way out of here, and into the woods until I could find a place to live that was no where near Tokyo-3. This place sucked, the air was unbreathable. I could barely think straight with all of the noise and cars everywhere. I've only been here three days.

"We have been ordered to keep tabs on you at all times. It is not safe to allow you free reign outside the Geofront." The suited man said.

"You know, I am really getting tired of all the guys in suits that have been in my life recently. Every one of them seems to be a prick." I said, then started listing them off, starting with my father. When I finished that, "And that concludes the list of all the suited pricks I have met within the last month. Do you want to know what my next list is?" I asked, trying to get him to go away.

"Look kid, I like this job as much as I like you, and I don't like you, kapeesh?" He replied before I could start my next list. "I am about fed up with this bullshit. Either you start walking to school, or we will "escort" you there, got it?" He suddenly took on a much more serious tone.

"See, now was that so hard?" I asked in a sweet voice. "Could have just said that, and you would have gotten a much better result." I said then walked past him without even glancing back.

There weren't many attractions to look at on my way to school. It was a thirty minute walk, so I kept myself entertained by the number of people I spotted with one item or another. It was fun enough to keep me distracted til I got to the front gate. "Little uh... large don't you agree?" I asked the suited man, who was still following me.

"You have five minutes to get to class. I would suggest you hurry it up. We will be watching the building the whole day, so don't get any funny ideas. One of us will be waiting to escort you home." He said, then went silent.

I pushed open the gates and sighed. "This is going to be a long day, isn't it?" I asked myself. Quickly going to the office I finished the enrollment process, got a student ID, and was given a small map along with my schedule, which was, stay in this room all day, then go home.

After entering three wrong classrooms, I finally found the right one. "Er... Sup Teach? Looks like I'll be joining this class." I said to the old man standing at the board. I then handed him all my new information, which he didn't care for the map or my ID.

"You will be keeping these." He said in a rather annoyed voice, while handing me back the ID and Map, along with the schedule.

"Whatever." I said, turning away from the old man.

"You will call the teacher Sensei, and you will show proper respect to him at all times!" A girl yelled at me, from behind. Looking behind me I saw a smallish girl, about my height, maybe an inch or two shorter. She had pigtails neatly set into her hair, her uniform precise to the last detail. She was rather cute, but I could tell from here that she and I would never last. She was WAY to into perfection and order.

"And you might be?" I asked to the girl.

"My name is Horaki Hikari, and am the Class Representative." She answered, without missing a single beat. "You are the new student, correct?" She asked back.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." I said. Still looking into the details about her. She had a few freckles, and was dressed very appropriately for school. She was probably a goody two shoes as well.

"Sounds about right? What?" She asked, not understanding.

"Look, I want to make this clear now, I don't bother you, you don't bother me. If you are the Class Rep, you might want to tell that to the other students too." I said, watching her face change to a scowl.

"You don't scare me." She said then pushed me to the front of the room. "Introduce yourself, then sit at that desk right there." She said pointing at one near the window, two seats from the back.

"Hello, my name is Ikari Shinji .'The Guy who is going to kill all of you.' I am here to help my father at his business." 'kill the bastard in his sleep and feast on his entrails.' I then looked at the Class Rep to see if she was satisfied, noticing that she just huffed I went down to the seat she pointed at and sat down.

"RISE BOW SIT!" She said in order, with everyone performing on her queue. She then walked over to her desk and sat down.

No one was stupid enough to try to talk to me. I would have probably tried to explain how I was going to give them a "improv tracheotomy" if they had.

When lunch came around the class rep however did come over to my desk. "My duties require me to tell you that the cafeteria is downstairs, I am also supposed to show you where it is." She said.

"Look, I really don't think we got off on the right foot." I said, then continued, "Hello, my name is Ikari Shinji, I am being held here against my will, and if I get the chance, will be leaving as soon as possible. I am sorry if I caused you any grief or harm. If you want, you can skip any duties that are required at my expense." Trying my hardest to keep a straight tone and face, and look genuinely sorry was hard, but I thought I did a rather good job.

"What do you mean, "against your will?" She asked in a hushed tone, leaning over. I was trying my hardest not to look down to where her undershirt dipped.

Quickly turning to the window I saw two men in suits near the gate, and used it to my advantage. "See them?" I said pointing at the guards. "They are preventing me from leaving here. I am pretty much a POW right now." I dropped my finger.

"Why are you here then?" She asked, still bent over.

"Look, before I say anything else, would you please stop leaning over on my desk. It is rather uncomfortable to see you in such a position if you know what I mean." I said to her, watching her face turn red.

"S-S-Soorrryyy." She said, not able to get it out of her head. She was rather ashamed of herself for not noticing.

"Look, its no problem, just forget it." I said with a smile and a wave of my hand. "But would you please just skip anything that has your duties that involves me?" I asked nicely.

"Yes!" She almost shouted, still embarrassed.

When she finally moved away I sighed in relief. "And another win for me." I said under my breath.

Lunch ended not to long after that. After another three hours of listening to Mr. Meteordestroyedeverythingweholddear talk about his FAVORITE subject, the school bell rang.

Going home was much easier than walking to school. The agents didn't walk right behind me but tailed me in a car. Misato had said that she wouldn't be home for a while after I got out and that I should go exploring, so I thought to take her up on her offer. Seeing a coffee shop in the distance I decided to try it out.

It was rather cold inside, but the smell of fresh coffee and beans permeated throughout the shop. An agent had followed me in to the shop so I thought I might as well make the best of it, and ordered two cups of coffee. One straight black for me, the other some form of cappuccino. The girl at the counter looked at me rather strange when I asked her if she took debit cards, which they did, but seeing it in the hands of a fourteen year old seems to raise questions.

Walking up to the agent who had been following me all day, I greeted him. "Sup."

"You are supposed to be heading back you the apartment complex." He said without flinching. I then pushed the Styrofoam cup of cappuccino in his hands.

"Look. I seem stuck with you, and you are stuck with me for the time being. So I'll let you in on a little secret. Misato told me to explore the area while she wasn't home, and she said she wouldn't be getting home for a while." I said to the man. I finally realized that he was of an Italian heritage. "Which means, I am going to sit down and drink my coffee. Do you perhaps feel like joining me? You could probably make sure I don't escape if you kept your eye on me from the table." I finished.

It didn't take long for the man to make up his mind. He joined me at the table I sat down at. "Thank you for the coffee." He said curtly.

"You're welcome." I said back. It didn't take long until we started talking. He was ex-military, a scout. He didn't like having to deal with his orders sometimes, but did so anyway, and from what he figured, I was just a pain in the ass, to which, I mostly agreed.

"Yeah, Sorry about your orders and everything. I just don't like people around me, watching me, at all times." I replied, which he seemed to calm down a little.

"I can understand why. Men in black suits following you around all day is somewhat of a intimidating idea, especially compounded with the fact that your own father put them on you." He said, stirring his coffee again.

"He may be my biological father, but that man is not an actual father by a long shot. He wouldn't care if I just up and disappeared unless he wanted to use me for something, ala, piloting those machines of death." I said back, rather aggravated at the aspect of having to talk about that horrible excuse for a caregiver. The suited man leaned back, and sighed. He seemed to have something he wanted to say but couldn't.

"Ikari, don't take this the wrong way, but I am not allowed to tell you my name, you can probably figure why, but I will explain to you that this conversation is being tapped and monitored." He said, then took the last chug of his coffee. "And you need to be getting home soon, Misato's shift ended fifteen minutes ago." He said with a smile.

We proceeded to the door when I bumped into the class rep. She turned pale upon seeing the Italian who immediately shoved his hand into his coat pocket. "Oh, Sorry Class Rep." I said, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Hi... Ikari... What are you doing here?" She said in almost a whisper, still looking at the mobish looking fellow.

"Came to get some coffee. Had some free time after class, so I decided to spend it here. What about you?" I asked, honestly worried why the agent hadn't pulled his hand out of his pocket.

"HI HIKARI!" A voice from behind the counter shouted. "Why are you on the ground?" I looked back and saw what appeared to be an older looking Hikari, with straight hair. She was a good bit taller, and had filled out much more that I expected an adult Hikari to. She had a perpetual smile stuck on her face, and her mannerisms gave away that she was a very caring person.

"Sorry!" Hikari stood upright upon seeing her sister, as if the prospect frightened her. "Mr. Ikari, meet my sister, Kodama." She pointed to her sister behind the counter.

"She makes good coffee." I said, pointing out what probably was an obvious fact. "Hello Horaki Kodama, nice to officially meet you." I said, waving my hand and smiling.

"Mr. Ikari, we need to leave." The Italian said, not wanting to waste anymore time. He relaxed his grip from inside his coat and pulled his hand out.

"Er... Right... Sorry again Horaki..." I said, then followed him out the door.

"So, Hikari, want to explain what that was all about?" I could hear Kodama in the background, questioning her sister.

"So... Why did you almost pull out a gun on a minor?" I asked him as he led me to the apartments, watching the trees starting to recede into a more suburban area once again.

"It was not a gun. I have orders to make sure you are safe at all times. NERV has many enemies. I didn't know if she was going to try to injure you or not." He said in an honest tone.

"Thank you?" I said, though it sounded more like a question. "But, I really don't think I need this much protection. I mean, I know when to avoid situations that could result in problems for me." I said.

"That's good and well, but orders are orders, as I have already explained to you." He said in what looked like a shrug.

"Yep, got it." I said, then saw the apartments. "Looks like your orders just ran out though, cause that is where I live." I said pointing at the apartments.

"We will be watching." He said in a rather ominous tone. "And thanks again for the coffee." Immediately breaking the omnisity of before.

"No problem." I answered back, then headed up to my new "home."

"Hi Misato, I am home!" I yelled into the bleak apartment. It looked as if she hadn't gotten home yet, but from the smell of instant food cooking, I knew she had.

"Hi Shinji. How was your first day of school? Meet any cute girls?" She said in a teasing voice from the kitchen.

"To the first question I will say, I need to lose the mobsters who follow me around everywhere. They are starting to scare other students. To the second question, Wouldn't you like to know." I said, snarking my way back at the woman.

"That's no fun." She said, dipping a few octaves lower. "You could of at least answered that question honestly." She said.

Walking into the kitchen I noticed a large mess brewing upon the stove, the sink was already full, and most of the dishes were already out and used. "Er... Misato, we need to have a talk about kitchen duties. How about I have all of them, and you stay out of the kitchen? OH MY GOD IS THAT MOVING?" I said looking into the pot of whatever she was cooking. I swear I saw something swimming in the pot.

"But it wouldn't be fair to let you do everything." She said with a small pout. She was wearing her usual home attire, along with an apron.

"I insist!" I said still observing the horrendous brew of death she had made on the stove. It looked to be some sort of curry, but several things were off, one major thing was it was blue. "Misato, I don't think whatever that is, is a good thing." I said still watching her stir the soup.

"I decided to use on of the recipes I found in a cookbook. I don't think it turned out just as planned." She said, then took a small spoon and tasted her concoction. She immediately turned green and lurched into the trashcan. "I... think... We... Should... Order... out..." She was having trouble keeping from lurching again.

"Gladly, and I'll pay." I said pouring out that monstrosity of a dish. 'MY GOD, IT ATE THROUGH THE DAMN POT' my mind screamed at me. She was still face first into the trash can. I quickly disposed of the pot by throwing it into a cabinet. I didn't want her to see how badly damaged it had become.

Dinner that night was filled with questions which I tried my hardest to avoid. Misato then started teasing me and throwing jabs at my ego. "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you." I said in a calm tone, as if to get my point across.

"You're a little high stung." She said with a smirk, then took a bite of whatever it was she was eating.

"Whatever." I said, then started doing the dishes. It took me a while to finish the dishes that she had created. When they were done however I announced that I would be taking a shower.

Laying down was still not normal. I was so used to sleeping outside at this point I kind of missed it. I decided to open up a window. That made the area feel a little more like home. "God I hope the next few weeks aren't like this." I said, laying back down.

Not many things did change though. The agents however stopped following me once the second week started. I did miss the mobster that followed me around though. After a few stops with him it was rather funny to see how he reacted to certain situations.

The school was rather large for what I was used too. Actually, I wasn't used to going to school, I mean, I lived with my teacher. I was in a total class of one, which suffice to say, I liked better than being stuck with some of the people that were here. It was a three story building. Around the building were several areas, including a library, a pool, a field, and the art building, which thankfully, I didn't have to go anywhere near. I suck at art.

The school day started out as normal. Horaki did her little morning ritual, then we all sat down. I got my computer out to appease the teacher, more so that I would not have to listen to him try to chew me out again. These computers sucked, bad. I had gotten used to writing down notes by hand. When I did sit down I noticed a small surprise, looking into the reflection of my off computer I noticed a pair of red eyes in the background. "Oh shit. I mean oh crap, I mean, oh whatever, screw it." I had not seen her since the hospital, and didn't figure that she would be present at this school, and she was staring right at me. It was good to see that she was out of the hospital though.

"Mr. Ikari, that is enough. You need to go over the school rules. No swearing." I was two seats away from a certain pair of red that were hooked on to a pale body with blue hair, she was staring intently outside, but at nothing at all. I began to wonder what she had done between the time we had together, but I knew better than to push that idea.

A boy in a track suit then slammed into the room. "Sorry I am late sensei, I just got done vesting my sister in the hospital, our house was crushed by the purple monster mech." He was taller than me by a good few inches. He held himself in a way that said "dull as a rock" though.

"Toji, you are excused, please go find your seat." is all the teach said. The boy named Toji then looked at me as I was flipping him off under the desk, he had insulted me without even thinking twice about it.

"Students, today we will be talking about some of the ramifications of the 2nd Impact" and then he lost my attention to the computer screen.

A message popped up in class chat, sent from Toji S. "Are you the new pilot?" I decided to open up a can of brutal honesty, much to the chargen of some of my class mates from what I could tell. "Yeah I am, and it's not my fault your house happened to be in my way, not to mention, I was probably THROWN into the damn thing to begin with." Over the next few seconds there was loud whispers went all over the classroom, then the student rep yelled, "QUIET!" Then another message flashed over the chatbox, "Soon as lunch hits, I'm gonna kill you." My reply didn't help matters much I suppose, "Bring it."

With that the next few hours passed quickly as I thought up the funnest way to torture this poor deluded boy. It was going to be so fun to make someone who was so sure of himself learn a thing or two about humility. When the bell finally rang I stayed behind with Toji for a few minutes until everyone but a boy named Kensuke (A scrawny kid who never put down his video camera or his toy gunships), Toji, and me were left. I then spoke out "You sure you want to do this?" laughing the whole time.

This obviously unnerved the boy, who then replied, "Kensuke showed me the fight, you were thrown into my house, but I have to keep appearances up. So yup, I am still going to fuck your shit up."

Still laughing I replied, "Shall we go outside then?"

Him and Kensuke walked out first, slowly preparing for this event. To me everything was going too goddamn slow, it had been a month or so since my last brawl, I was ready for it, I NEEDED the high I got from it.

He then spoke up, "Sorry New kid, but I got to do this at least for my sister." He then threw the first punch and like that, my instincts immediately took hold. I sidestepped and his fist hit the poll I was leaning on. "FUCK" he screamed as he pulled his fist back. I didn't even give him a chance to try again. I sunk my foot right into where his knee connected to his shin, and with that he kneeled down.

"PERFECT" I noticed myself yelling, "TIME FOR A PHOTO FINISH." I pulled back his head via his hair, I slowly drew my fist back aiming straight for his nose. I wanted to give him something that would mark this loss foreve~

"Pilot Ikari, we need to speak." as my hand was pulled behind my back and held with the practice of a police officer.

"What up Rei." I said grimly, I knew that voice, and I wasn't too happy about not being allowed to have my own fun.

Toji then passed out on the ground and I told Kensuke, "If you don't want to end up like him, I suggest you help him, sorry I had to do that, please take him to the nurse." as I was pulled away by Rei.

She guided me into the school building and up to the roof. The view was amazing. You could see a large part of the woods from behind, and a large part of of the school. "God I wonder what some of the guys would do if they knew the pool could be seen from here." I said.

Rei decided to speak up, "Pilot Ikari, you must refrain from performing any actions that reflect badly on NERV. You are employed therefore are a representative of NERV." She was wearing the standard school uniform. Her hair was cropped short. One of her eyes was still covered with the bandage, and her arm was casted. She had a light shade of blue for her hair and her skin was white, had a pearly tint. She looked rather good, but she never seemed to smile.

"You know, you should smile more. It helps. If nothing else it might make you feel better yourself." Then I realized what I was saying. "Er... Sorry... Back on subject... Look, as far as I care, the guy had it coming, I mean we made our peace before the fight, I just wanted something to do." I said.

"You will follow the rules." Said Rei matter of factually, still no facial expressions other than her perpetual frown. "Also I am sorry." she added quickly after that in a whisper.

"Um what?" I was dumbstruck. It was an actual apology, I was not expecting her to bring me up here just to apologize, hell, I was not expecting anything when she brought me up here~

"I spent time trying to figure out what you meant in the hospital, you were trying to help me. I have never been offered any, I think the term is emotional, support in my life, therefore I thought it was right to apologize."

"I um, I" 'dammit, at a loss of words here need to think of something quick' I thought.' "So, you thought about what I had said?" was all I could say, I was at a lose of words. Not to mention she had started taking up more and more of my attention. "Ayanami right? Are you alright? Your injuries look like they are painful."

"Yes." She then looked away from me. With that the school bell rang and we went back into class, silently standing right beside each other till she walked into the room.

"Ikari Shinji," the teacher started to speak, "You are wanted in the Principle's office." The Hikari guided me to the Principle's office. She was talking about how she was so sorry that Toji caused this.

"I admire Toji" caused her to immediately stop and look back at me.

"What?" was all she managed. She looked rather shocked.

"I admire Toji" I repeated then went on, "He kept to his word even though he knew the truth, he might be a bit misguided, but he kept his word. I admire guys like him. He was brave, he did what he was said, and he got his ass kicked, but at least the man is honest, he kept his integrity and honor."

Her jaw dropped. "I um, the office is right ahead to the left, I got to go." She said as she left, blushing a new shade of red that I thought was impossible.

When I got into the office Toji was sitting on the bench to my right and I was told to sit. He began to speak, "I know I asked for that."

I interrupted him, "Toji, I would be honored to call you a friend, you kept your word knowing the chances of what was going to happen. That spells out bravery." He offered his hand and we shook. Then spent the next half hour cracking up as the principle called Misato and Toji's father.

"Your parents will be here momentarily." "You will stay here until they get here." the principle said.

Over the time Toji and I recounted tales of various fights, losses, women, fun, to each other. It felt good to finally have a friend that I could trust once again, I found it in this boy who decided to keep his word no matter the odds and stood his ground.

"Man, you should have seen the look on Kensuke's face when he heard what you said." he started to say, " It was absolutely hilarious. I swear I thought he would piss himself."

"Aren't you friend's with Kensuke though?" I asked, remembering the military nut. "Yeah but the dude can get on my nerves sometimes. You know he was taking bets on who was going to win?" Toji answered.

"That IS funny, did he not have any faith in you?" I mused.

"Wouldn't matter, he is always tryi"~ His words stopped short as Misato and his dad entered the room.

Misato was the first to speak. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?" She screamed at me. She was not in her happy place.

"Ma'am it was my fault, I started the fight and Shinji won fair and square." Toji spoke up before I had the chance.

"Misato," I said, "Me and Toji were just having a bit of fun at lunch, you know, testing the new kid and stuff. I may have gone a little far but I was stopped, and the school may have taken it the wrong way."

Me and Toji swapped phone numbers in case either of us wanted to hang out before the principle came back with a decision.

"Seeing as neither one of them was seriously hurt, and we cannot figure out what exactly happened, I either have to punish both of them" to this we both gulped. "Or we can forget about it." We automatically chose the second.

The rest of that day went slowly. I was introduced to Kensuke and most of the other guys in class. Most of them backed away after Kensuke collected and redistributed money keeping a large portion to himself. "That's enough to buy my new camera!" he exclaimed. I picked up a few things about the guy as we were sitting around bullshiting. Kensuke I noticed was all into the military, and into gambling, which I knew all to well that I could exploit in the near future.

Then it dawned on me he was asking me a question. "So, you and Rei huh?"

"Um what?" was my response.

"Are you and Rei in a relationship or something? I mean she did stop you from finishing it mortal kombat style." He said with a rather envious look in his eye, jealousy perhaps.

"Er, no, She also works at NERV, I don't know much more than that." I replied.

"SHE WORKS AT NERV?" he started yelling.

"Uh yeah, I think she is also a pilot, I don't know, I wasn't told anything, I was just thrown into the big Eva thing and told to fight." I added.

He nearly froze solid, "You were not given any formal training before you were sent out into the battlefield?"

"Notta, just figured it out after getting the shit beat out of me." I answered.

After the initial shock and awe of the first few min (like 15) Kensuke and Toji decided it might be time to head out. When I finally gathered my things I was stopped at the door.

"Um. Hi Shinji." was all the timid class rep said, but she did use my first name.

"Sup Horaki." I asked.

"Um Shinji, I wanted to thank you for looking out for Toji." She said, but she seemed to beat around the metaphorical bush.

I whispered into her ear, "I know you like him." trying to get a rise out of the girl.

"WHAT, HOW, WHEN?" She started yelling vehemently.

"I wow, uh, you know, I was just trying to get a rise out of you to see how you would react." This was not as planned.

"I have to go" she quickly left, running through the halls.

"Damn man, what did you do?" Toji asked.

"I honestly have no idea..." I replied without looking behind me.

"Hey man, we are going to check out the arcade, you want in?" Kensuke asked.

"Sorry but I can't, I have a feeling I am in a shit ton of trouble when I get home." I replied.

"Yeah, but at least Misato is really good looking." Toji said, trying too hard to picture what was in his mind would be a very bad thing.

When I finally left I started to walk home when I noticed Rei just standing at the front gate.

"Uh sup?" I asked.

"I noticed the class representative running from the school. Was it something you caused?" was the answer I got.

"Jealous?" was my question back.

"I do not know what I feel," then she took off.

"Hey wait up, isn't there something you wanted to say other than that as I walked behind her."

"No." Then she started to walk faster.

"Then why would you wait for me? That could have waited till tomorrow." I commented.

"I wanted to ask you a question. I have done that, now I shall head home." she said flatly.

I figured I wold try it at least once, "So, you want me to walk you home then?"

After another frown then being slapped, I decided to drop it when she disappeared. 'Damn she is fast' I thought, then walked home. I walked in the door, announced my arrival and started dinner when Misato finally got out of her room. She was blitzed, "Not even a month at schkul ~hiccup~ and you have already got ~hiccup~ into a fight." "You're grounded." was all I heard then she passed out. I was wondering if she always dressed this way or just because I was here dress at all. I mean between the shorts and the tank top that was a size to small I didn't understand.

"Either way" I muttered to myself, dragging her to the couch and placing her on it. "Damn she is heavy" I said aloud. "I do not have time for this, I quickly finished dinner, but she couldn't be roused from her sleep. "Fine" I said to myself, then ate, did the rest of my chores and sank into bed after a quick shower. "Today has been awesome, I finally feel at home for once in my life." After a few more moments I passed out wondering about Rei and her seeming inability to express emotion other than disappointment and confusion all while staying so stoic at the same time.

A/N Yeah, with this chapter I am sorry to announce the removal of several others. I hope that anyone who has read so far will forgive me. I have decided to change some of the rather major parts of the story, and with the rewrite, that means deleting some of the parts that contradict each other. Sorry again! Thank you for all the views and visitors!

Have fun mates.


	4. Chapter 4: Second Battle

Chapter 4: Second Battle

Gainax holds Copyright. I do not.

"Aim then fire." I repeated the mantra Dr. Akagi had made me memorize. This whole morning had been dedicated to nothing but tests. She even made me answer where all the zones where for almost every item they had in all of Tokyo-3, which I was apparently supposed to be memorizing. She had also given me a rundown of how the Eva was powered by an umbilical cord, and the battery life span. In the latest test I was in a testing room that had a simulated environment. My Eva had been mostly repainted, all that was left was the helm. I again took aim of the angel's core and fired into the mock enemy.

"Good!" Misato said, noticing the score steadily rising.

The rest of that day followed the same suit. Dr. Akagi seemed to get more and more aggravated as the day went on, but I knew better than to ask why. When we finally got home I just sunk in bed and passed out.

The next morning I made Misato and Pen Pen breakfast, and left a note. Misato hadn't wanted to wake up. Today she didn't have to be at NERV until late at night. She asked me if I would take out the trash, which I did as I departed.

Walking to school had become a much more routine affair than I wanted it to be. I didn't enjoy the prospect of heading to school, or what I would be doing there. Rei didn't seem to show up that often, and I almost envied her for that, then again, I figured it might have something to do with her injuries.

I was wrong that day about Rei showing up though. She did show up, much to my amazement. The teacher still went on about the Second Impact, continuing from what he was saying yesterday. I lazily ignored him and talked with Kensuke and Toji over the computer. By the time the lunch bell rang I was ready to go outside, that is, until Rei called me out.

"Did you need something?" I asked her.

"There is an emergency. I'll report in first." Rei said, then took off.

Before I could even get outside a black vehicle was outside, waiting at the gates. I got into the backseat. "Er... Is it okay just to leave like this, without telling anyone?" I asked the driver. He didn't say a word as we sped off toward the NERV base. Rei just kept looking out her window.

"What did you mean by emergency?" I tried asking Rei, to no avail. Then I heard the claxon's sounding. "Oh... That kind of emergency." I said aloud. An angel was coming to try to kill us again. The rest of the drive was made in near silence, only watching people running in the streets. When we finally made it to NERV headquarters we were placed on a large escalator like machine. It pulled the car down toward the Geofront. We hit the bottom, and the driver got out of the car and Rei and I followed suit.

We were escorted out of the car and I was shown to the pilot changing room. I quickly dawned that damned latex suit. "I swear these things just cannot get more uncomfortable!" I said walking out of the room.

"Pilot Ikari, Can you hear me?" A small set of speakers on the wall spoke out, in Dr. Akagi's voice. "Follow the lights." She said as she illuminated a path of red lights toward the Eva tank. I quickly found myself inside the plug, and it filled again with LCL. My mind went blank at the scent of blood.

"Unit 01, powering up!" A technician yelled. I lost all control for a second as my mind felt ripped from my body.

Looking up I saw nothing, and down the same. I was on a flat white plane, nothing in any direction. A second later I saw the Eva's head appear into view.

"FREEDOM!" I heard a loud booming voice crack out.

"And?" I asked, not amused at the prospect of talking to a giant head, though I did noticed that my Eva's new paint job was done. It looked much more natural in black and white than it did in those other colors.

"FIGHT!" The voice said.

The air around me seemed to flow with power. My head felt as if it were going to explode. Watching a man materialize from thin air, he greeted me.

"Sup?" He asked.

"I am going to guess that you are a figment of my psyche, probably the one I call Psycho." I said back to the man. He was half dressed. He had on a pair of boots and jeans, but no shirt. He was about five foot six. I didn't want to press anything when I noticed his face was similar to mine, but in so many ways different. His scars going across it in every direction. From what I could see, the rest of his body was the same way.

"That's right. Now I wanted to talk. More specifically, about you." He said with a slasher grin.

"I don't have much time." I said to him, remembering what my current objective was.

"It doesn't matter. Time here and Time out there are two separate things." He said.

"Okay, then what do we need to talk about?" I asked.

"This beast wants its freedom, just like you and I. I want you to give him that freedom, in turn, he will lend us his power." He said.

"Way to make this sound like a deal with devil." I congratulated him, sarcastically.

"There isn't much difference at this point. Do you accept or not?" He said, still smiling.

"Yes." I said bluntly.

"Good..." He said. I was quickly flushed back into reality, or what I believed to be the true reality.

"Shinji, did you get the plan?" Misato asked.

"Er... No... Please repeat it one more time." I said back, honestly not remembering anything about a plan.

"Unit 00 is currently undergoing repairs. We are going to send you up to defeat the angel." Misato said.

"Just neutralize the angel's AT-field and fire a volley with the pallet gun, just as we practiced." Dr. Akagi said.

"Got it." I said.

"UNIT 01 LAUNCH!" Misato yelled.

I was forced up with enough speed that when the brakes finally latched I almost slammed my head against top of the plug. A few seconds later I saw what was coming. The angel looked like a cross between a phallus and a bug. I covered my mouth to keep myself from busting out in laughter. It stood several meters taller than me, it's core prominently sitting in the middle of the stalk like head. It had the ability to fly above the ground, and lifted it's head like a snake. I manually cut off communications with the NERV base. I really didn't want to hear anything else from them, and I was sure they didn't want to hear what I was going to say, if I said anything at all.

I quickly sprinted to where the angel was floating. It deployed two pink energy whips. I quickly learned to dodge them as I watched them cut straight through the building separating me and it, severing my umbilical cable. The timer started to click down rapidly, one minute left. I peppered it with pallet gun, to which it just reacted by slicing my gun into pieces. "Not... Good..." I said to myself trying to get a breath in. The angel then grabbed a hold of me and threw me into a mountain, a shrine not too far off. Alarms started going off in my cockpit. "What the hell?" I asked as an orange screen identified two humans, right beside where I landed. "You have got to be kidding me!" I yelled in the cockpit as it identified them as Kensuke and Toji. "I can't... grrrrr... DAMN IT!" I slammed the release of my plug. "TOJI, KENSUKE, GET OVER HERE!" I yelled to my acquaintances. They quickly found there way into my plug.

"God is this water?" Toji commented as he got in after Kensuke.

"You two, SHUT UP!" I snarled at them. If I didn't win, we would all die. The angel had flew over head a grabbed me, pulling me into an embrace. I quickly deployed my prog-knife and charged the angel. "FUCK YOU!" I sneered as it's energy whips pierced into my Eva's abdomen. I growled as I pushed the control for the knife forward, slowly making progress. Kensuke and Toji were talking to me but I couldn't hear them. I was in too much pain to even try to listen to them at this point. The knife broke into the angel's core, but did nothing further. "10 seconds left." The Alarms announced. I then slammed my fist into the hole formed by the knife, then placed my other in, pulling the sides of the core away from each other. "LETS SEE IF YOU CAN SURVIVE THIS!" I yelled as I pushed the controls further to the sides, pushing the core away from itself. "3... 2..." The core split and the angel fell.

"HELL YEAH!" I yelled excitedly, then passed out. The pain in my side was undescribable, and even if I tried it would probably come out as nothing but growls and shrieks. My head turned back on the com system as I fell though.

'Shit' I thought. I was back in the hospital room. I looked down at my body, it was in perfect condition. 'and that means I can leave' I said the rest in my head. I quickly got redressed and called Misato, though she didn't pick up. I had to wait a bit for a nurse to come find me. She was nice and got a hold of Misato, who did nothing but chew me out, I apparently was not authorized to all civilians inside the entry plug. It was only by a miracle coincidence that Misato authorized it while in progress. We went home, Misato let me just go back to sleep. She didn't want me over exerting myself.

The next day I was to stay home from school, which I didn't mind much, though it was a pain in the ass. I stayed at home, unpacking, now that I had a chance. That didn't take much time though. I used the rest of my day just sitting on the roof and resting, wasn't ideal, but I had nothing else to do. When Misato came home she repeated her speech about stupid actions on the battlefield, then I made us both dinner. Misato was becoming more and more endearing as time went on. She was becoming a bit like an older sister, trying to keep me in check, which I wouldn't have minded, though I did wish she would keep some of her opinions to herself, especially the ones about me and dating, but I kept quiet.

My alarm went off the next morning. I slowly got up and dressed then went into the bathroom to complete the ritual. I went into the kitchen and started breakfast and gave Pen-Pen his morning can of Yebisu. He happily accepted that and his fish when it was done. I noticed he was getting a bit bigger in size but I ignored that fact. A fat animal usually meant a happy animal.

"Misato wake up, breakfast." I said to her from her door.

"Thanks Shinji, you might want to head in early today." She commented.

"Sure, whatever." I said agreeing with her, then shut her door.

I headed off to school, it was cool outside today, we were supposedly getting some rain later in the week. When I got to school Kensuke and Toji both barraged me with thanks and questions. I was quickly thankful for Hikari immediately putting them both in their place.

"RISE BOW SIT!" Hikari yelled, and the day officially started.

By the time lunch came around I didn't get much done. After lunch we just took a test, not too hard.

"Sounds fun, count me in." I said to the geek I had come to accept as my friend.

"Sweet! Trust me, you won't regret coming with us!" Kensuke exclaimed.

They were talking about going to the arcade today, the teacher had let us talk today after we had finished our last test, and was currently snoozing at his desk. Misato still had me grounded but I called her to see if it was okay. She didn't seem to mind her, and agreed that if I didn't "socialize" properly, that bad things could happen. She was more concerned about the idea of me doing nothing at home then she was about the idea of me doing something stupid outside, and relented shortly after.

"Pilot Ikari. I have been told to inform you that our presence is requested at NERV today after school." Rei said, walking over to my desk. Her eye was still covered, along with that cast.

"Really?" I asked in a light tone, I really did want to go hang out with my new friends. She didn't say a word as she sat down. I could tell Rei was not one to drag on conversations if she didn't have too. "Sorry guys, but work has called." I said in a somber tone, looking at my friends.

"It's no problem man, right Toji?" Kensuke said, and rammed his elbow into Toji's side.

"Er... Right man... Do what you got to do." He said staring out at Rei.

"Something wrong?" I asked as I noticed who he was staring at.

He turned his face to me. "Its nothing, but that has been the first time I have heard her address anyone since she started coming here, and that was like, second grade or so..." Toji said.

"Not only that, but you are the only person she has been seen alone with... It would only be right to tell you that rumors are starting." Kensuke added in.

"And what are you three doing?" Hikari walked up on us.

"NOTHING!" Toji yelled. He seemed rather nervous around the class rep. She was the one who reported to the coaches on his grades, and bad grades meant bad things were going to happen.

"Mr. Aida, Mr. Ikari, Mr. Suzuhara." Hikari said before sitting down near us.

"Er... Hi Hikari, you want something?" I asked, nervously, it was the first time I used her first name. I did notice her blushing at the aspect.

"Kodama wanted me to ask you why you are no longer going to the coffee shop." Hikari muttered, still stunned at the aspect of her first name being used.

"Oh! I forgot about that, sorry. The mob has finally been called off, so I didn't have a reason to go there." I explained. She frowned a bit at the mob part, then giggled.

"That's good to hear." She said before she got up and walked away.

"You and Hikari?" Toji looked confused.

"If you are implying we have something going on, you would be wrong. I just know her older sister, she works at a coffee shop near Misato's." I said, skipping the part that Hikari was almost always there, and sat at a table not to far from me everyday, drinking the same exact drink she ordered everyday.

"That makes sense!" He said with a new found resolve. "Oh, Shinji, by the way, I need you to come with me to the hospital sometime. My sister Sakura wants to meet the man she believes is her hero." He said. I didn't want to broach that subject. It had only been a few days since he sucker punched me in the face for hurting her. That and I actually felt bad for hurting her.

"Toji, uh, don't take this the wrong way but, I don't think that is such a great idea." I replied. The more I thought about it the less I wanted to go. It didn't seem right for me to march in there, apologize, then leave.

"Take your time man. I just promised to bring you there eventually. I can understand that it can be a big thing to ask." He said, noticing my look of pain

"Thanks, I promise I'll go there when I get everything sorted out." I said.

The bell rung signaling the time to leave. "Um... Mr. Ikari... Would you please stay behind a few minutes?" The Class Rep said to me after everyone had left the classroom but us and Rei.

"I am actually supposed to head to the Geofront, but sure. Need something?" I asked her.

"Oh... its nothing... go on ahead..." She said. I thought I could hear a bit of doubt in her voice, but that was quickly overruled when Rei walked past.

"Sorry Hikari, but got to go." I said before nearly breaking out in a run toward the door. "Ayanami, wait up, I have no idea how to get to the Geofront from here, those maps are a pain in the ass!" I shouted down the hall, and then finally caught up with her. "Look, I don't know how to get to NERV other than walking to my apartment. I was told to follow you." I tried to catch my breath.

"I will lead the way." Rei said, then started walking once again.

We had been walking for nearly half an hour before I started trying to talk to her. She didn't seem very enthused with the idea of holding a conversation. "Where are we?" I asked. We had entered a subway earlier and walked through a door that opened when Rei swiped a key card through.

"We are headed to the Geofront." She replied, not showing any emotion.

"You know, I was not kidding when I said you should smile more." I said back.

"Noted." Was all she said as she kept walking. The rest of the trip was made in silence. I was trying not to upset her, something about her was off though.

When we finally arrived we were greeted with a klaxon blaring as a large door opened. She led me further inside until we were at one of the moving walkways. "Where to now?" I asked. She just stepped onto one of the walkways and I did the same.

"Shinji, there you are." Misato said, watching as the pathway brought us closer. "I thought with Ayanami leading you, you would be here an hour ago. Didn't you take the train?" She asked.

"Er... No, Rei and I walked here. She showed me a pathway under a substation." I replied.

"Huh... That's unusual. Have anything to say about it Rei?" Dr. Akagi asked, not appearing to care one way or the other.

"I needed time to think." Rei replied curtly. She did not on further as she walked into the female pilot changing room. Misato then shoved me into the male counterpart and handed me a latex suit.

"These suits suck, can't I just wear my normal cloths?" I asked, not exactly excited about wearing this thing again. It constricted against my skin, didn't let me breath either.

"It is a plug suit. You will get used to it, it also helps to keep sync with the Eva." Dr. Akagi said offhandedly. I finally relented and headed into the room to change. Once I was done I regretted it.

"Now follow Rei to the testing area." Misato said, then headed off to a random destination.

"Looks like you are stuck with me." I said watching as Rei walked her dressing room, missing her cast, her arm hanging limply at her side. She was obviously in pain. "Rei, hand me your cast." I said before snatching it from her. I quickly put the cast back into place on the plug suit. "Try not to take this off too much. It might affect how the bone grows back." I said looking into her hypnotic red eyes.

"Thank you, Pilot Ikari." She said, with a remainder of a little pain in her voice.

"No problem. I was told to follow you into the testing area." I said. She got on her feet and started walking until we hit another of those moving pathways. "God I hate these things." I said aloud, not liking the idea of having to transverse over these things. My legs were usable, and using them was something I liked to do.

"You will be heading that way." She said before pointing off toward the plug marked 01. She than walked to the one that had 00 on it and climbed up a ladder, obviously having trouble so I went over to her. I noticed that the mechanism holding the pod in place had controls that weren't too far off I walked over to them. I found the key that lowered the pod and pressed it until the pod was at her level. She glared at me, though I was happy enough. A female technician started yelling at me to stop pressing buttons. I read her name tag, it was Ibuki Maya.

"Sorry Ms. Ibuki. Ayanami just looked like she was having difficulties getting into her pod with that cast on. I am sorry if I messed anything up. I will be heading to my pod now." I apologized. She had turned a bit red in the face, but I suspected that was anger more than anything else. I climbed up the ladder into my pod and got ready for what I expected to follow.

"Pilot Ikari, we are going to fill your plug with LCL and activate all systems. You will be sitting in the plug for an hour so that we can get sync readings off of you." Dr. Akagi said over the com channel. She was a rather annoying woman but I let it pass.

"Whatever." I replied as the pod filled with LCL. I couldn't help but keep thinking it was blood. The taste was too much to stop. I slowly fell into a trance like state, bliss wrapping around my body. Up in the command room, from what I could tell, people were going all over the place. It looked almost like a party, but I couldn't hear any music.

I didn't notice the coms when they did come back on. Dr. Akagi said something and the LCL started to drain from the plug. Snapping out of it a bit I headed outside. "Is something wrong?" I asked the fuming doctor.

"Your scores are inconclusive. Guess what that means?" She said. Before I could answer Misato walked over.

"It means we will figure it out next week. Remember, we still have our little girl's night out tonight." Misato said before tugging me and nearly throwing me into the male pilot's room. I took a shower and redressed. Rei was already out and was still having trouble putting her cast back on.

"Here, let me." I said. It took her a few moments but she offered me her arm in defeat. I quickly placed the cast back on and tightened the strap. "That should be it." I said. She just got up and left. "Strange girl." I said, in all reality she was starting to grow on me.

I found Misato still talking to one of the crew members. When she was said and done she pushed me toward a pathway and off we went. "Hey Misato, what does Inconclusive mean?" I asked her.

"Inconclusive means that your reading were random. We could not get a solid number on them. Its nothing to worry about, the Magi just might not know how to handle your numbers yet. It didn't take them long to figure out Rei's. Though, that was before I was even here." She said.

"So Rei has been here longer than you?" I asked.

"From what I am told, she has been here since she was a small child. Gend~ The Commander has taken care of her since childhood, well, not exactly, he has given her orders since she was a small child. I don't know much." She shrugged. By this time we were already at the front gate. Misato led me to her car and we drove off. The ride home was in silence. I was thinking about what kind of life Rei must have led before I arrived.

"Shinji?" Misato said poking me.

"Huh? What?" I asked groggily, must have fallen asleep.

"We're home, and its your turn to cook." She said, then added, "And Ritsuko is coming over, we are going to have a girl's night out." She finished.

"Okay." I said before getting out of the car. I walked up the stairs and entered the apartment. I headed to the sink in the kitchen and splashed cold water on my face, waking myself up. "Much better." I said to myself then started dinner.

Time flies when you are doing something you could count as fun, and I didn't so much mind cooking. It gave me something to focus on. Dinner consisted of curry and a few other things. Dr. Akagi did show up like Misato said.

"Hello Ikari." She said looking at me while I was setting the table.

"Hello Dr. Akagi." I replied back, then set the dishes on the table.

Dinner went well I suppose. She didn't talk much, Misato did though. From what I could gather they were old friends, likely college. After dinner was finished I went to go clean up, dishes and things. Before they left however, Dr. Akagi called me into the living room.

"Ikari, would you mind delivering this to Rei's house tomorrow. I forgot to give it to her after the test." She said, handing me a card.

I was staring into the card when Misato finally broke through. "Aw... That's so cute... Shinji's in love." Misato said.

"I AM NOT!" I said, probably yelled, while blushing. "It's just I've noticed that Rei seems to be a bit distant from people." I said.

"She doesn't have many social skills." Dr. Akagi commented. "Misato, if we don't leave now, we might not be able to fit in any bars." She added.

"Right... Well, see ya Shinji, we are going to go have some fun." Misato said, then winked to tease me.

"Later Misato." I said, and they left.

"I wonder what she thinks about." I commented to myself as I went back to the kitchen to finish cleaning. The more I tried to distract myself the more I seemed to wander back to the subject of Rei Ayanami. I knew nothing about her, and neither did anyone else save my ….. The Commander, and Dr. Akagi. I couldn't reasonably ask either one of them about the issue. So, I figured that asking Rei herself would be best, but how to do it? Take her on a date? No, too risky. Just come out and ask her? No, probably result in silence. "Gah! She shouldn't be on my mind this much!" I said aloud in the apartment. My only reply was a WARK coming from the penguin. "Hey Pen-Pen, do you know anything about Rei?" I mused to the him.

"Wark." His response. He handed me a can of Yebisu, having no fingers to open it himself.

"Sure buddy, here you go." I said snapping the top and handing it to him.

"WARK!" He sounded happy. He then headed back into him freezer.

With all the chores done I decided to go get some rest. I couldn't however stop thinking about Rei... Who was she? It was a like a big mystery novel set up in my head. Tomorrow would be Sunday so I decided not to stress it, and went back into the living room to watch TV.

"Today, a student from the Yomiyama North High-school's Class 3-3 fell to death from the third story window." The News reporter said, as soon as I turned on the TV.

"And that's enough for me." I said as I clicked the television back off.

I went back to my room and laid back down. It took a while, but I finally fell asleep. I dreamt that night of a being in a hospital, no NERV's hospital. I awoke in my hospital room and changed. Walking through the halls I noticed that no one was there, and it didn't seem there had been anyone there in years. I watched the shadows for any sign of movement, as they seemed to be the only true way of seeing anything against the outline of the lights. Something cold touched my shoulder. Turning around slowly I saw a faceless girl. From what I could tell it was Rei, but her facial features had been erased and replaced with skin.

And then I woke up. I didn't even want to try to interpret that dream. I got around to checking if Misato was home, and of course she wasn't. "I wonder why they agreed to let her be my guardian." I mused to myself before remembering what I was supposed to do today. I grabbed my jacket and the telephone Misato had given me. Noticing the address on Rei's ID, I estimated it would be a half hour walk to her place. I wrote Misato a note in case she got home, explaining what I was doing and telling her I had my phone, then headed out the door.

The walk over to Rei's place was made in silence. I was enjoying the silence, but the closer I got to the area she was supposedly living in, the more I began to get frustrated. Construction noises were everywhere, not to mention, druggies and the like. It infuriated me to see any area like this.

"You have got to be kidding me." I said aloud when I got to her apartment building. It was an old gray building, looking in a shape of major disrepair. The stairs were old concrete ones, but had many cracks along them, ready to go at any moment. The safety railing was old and rusted, paint chipping off many parts. The roof looked like it was jury rigged in some areas, only patched to keep out the occasional rain. I slowly walked up the stairs, and found her door.

I rang the bell but I heard no bell chime inside, so I decided to knock on the door instead. The door cracked open upon me lightly tapping it, signaling no lock, or even way to keep the door shut. "Ayanami, I am coming in." I shouted into the apartment with no answer. The place was filthy. The ground was a gray and brown color, where I could once see white tiling. The counters were stained, with what I did not know. The sink had a layer of grime that could only have been made over YEARS of accumulation. I walked further inside, a closed door going further into the apartment, and a walkway heading to a bedroom. I noticed a pair of broken glasses that sat on a dresser of some sort. Looking further around the room I found the jackpot of all drugs. Most of them were written in what appeared to be English, and I didn't have much ability to read. I could however make out a series of marks that I knew meant danger.

A door closed behind me, looking back I saw Rei standing there. She was undressed and clearly just came out of a shower. She had a towel covering her breasts, and one she was using to dry her hair. She looked captivating, I just stared at her, taking in the sight. I started to my mind wander, but I quickly shut that thought away. Before I could say a word she walked up to me to retrieve the glasses I held in my hand. She grabbed my arm and started to fall back. I threw the glasses onto the sparsely covered bed to keep them safe, then turned with Rei in my arms so that I would take the brunt of the fall. My head slammed into the hard concrete floor. "Ouch." I said aloud, then added, "Are you alright?"

Silence then an answer. "Yes, I believe so." Rei said. Her towel had fallen on the floor.

"Er... Rei... Um..." I stared in every direction except on top of me. She was just sitting there, on top of my crotch. It took some willpower to keep from letting my biological parts know about the stimulation. She slowly got up, causing a quick jab of stimulation, and got redressed, I kept my eyes away from her, knowing exactly what would happen if I tried.

"Rei... You really should invest in some security." I said still looking away, she was taking awhile to get redressed.

"I see no reason." She said flatly, before walking over to her bed and retrieving the glasses. She then picked up a small case and gingerly laid them inside. The case snapped shut.

"Er, what if I were a rapist, you would have been a perfect ~ gah, not good, okay, thief then, I could have come in here and stolen everything you valued." I started. "Also, you can't be seen without clothes on, it is indecent. You should at least know that, and what is with you living here? This building is horrible, how do you stand it? It's not fit to be lived in, I mean between the stairs and rails alone, this place is a major safety hazard. ~"

"I thank you for your concern Pilot Ikari, but this is where I have been told to live." she interrupted. "and what is indecent?"

"Indecent? YOU DON'T KNOW INDECENT?" I started freaking. "It's a concept, you know, where you try to be presentable to the rest of humanity without causing adverse issues, for example, being fully dressed."

"Understood. I have no valuables in this apartment. Thieves would find no reason to break in." She interjected. "I do not know what you mean by adverse issues either."

"Uh by that I mean you (god you're beautiful, I would like very much right now to do~) should not try to cause anyone to freak out." I said while trying to avoid my thoughts.

"You seem to be rather distracted, would you prefer I took my clothes back off?" She asked, looking confused.

"NO" I shouted while actually thinking 'god what I wouldn't give for that to happen.'

"Why are you here?" She finally asked.

"Oh... Right... um... Here..." I said handing her the new ID. "Dr. Akagi forgot to give it to you after the tests, she asked me to deliver it." I said.

"Thank you..." She said before laying the card next to the case with glasses.

"Rei, do you mind if I clean up a bit?" I asked. I couldn't stand the look of her apartment.

"Clean up?" She said in a confused fashion.

"I have a question, where is the nearest store?" I asked.

"Down the street." Rei said, knowing the area quite well.

"Will you be here if I left for a bit then came back?" I asked.

"Yes." She said. I really didn't think she left her building other than school and NERV things.

"Alright, I'll be right back." I said as I walked out of her apartment. I headed off to the small store that was down the road. It took me a few minutes to get down there but I found the cleaning supplies I needed, along with some trash bags. I paid for everything at the counter and left. I quickly returned to her apartment and held the door shut as I knocked it this time.

Rei answered the door and allowed me back inside. "Okay..." I said as I sat the bags down on the table she had in the kitchen/dining room. I brought out some of the things that I had bought, mostly cleaning supplies. "How about you just sit down." I asked her. She complied and sat down at the table, not taking her eyes off of me. I cleaned the tile floor in the kitchen, then scrubbed the sink. The water was a filthy gray color as it came out, but I didn't posses the know-how to fix that. After that was done I started to throw away the trash littering the apartment. Rei never once took her eyes off of me, but she didn't seem to understand.

"Better?" I asked her.

"Why did you do that?" She asked.

"I didn't like it." I answered honestly.

"Like?" She asked, still confused.

"Like... Er... It means something I prefer, or something I would rather have. I didn't like the way your apartment was, so I fixed it to something I preferred. Understand?" I asked.

"I think so." She said, she then got up and went to her room.

"Rei?" I asked.

"Yes?" She answered from her room.

"May I come in?" I asked, not knowing what to expect.

"Yes." She said. When I entered she was reading a dictionary, she looked rather intent on finding whatever she was wanting to find.

"Well... I think I should head home now... I noticed you don't have your bandages anymore. Are you alright without them?" I asked. For some reason her being in pain did not settle well in my stomach.

"The wounds have healed. I thank you for your concern. I would like to talk to you again at some point in the future. Would you mind coming over again?" She asked

"No problem." I said while rubbing the back of my head, I was rather nervous at that prospect.

"Well, I have got to go now. It was nice spending time with you Rei." I said and headed toward the door. Rei was still busy with her book, so I didn't feel like bothering her. I noticed that it was still fairly early in the day, so I decided that if I had some free time I might as well make the best of it. I went back to the store and picked up a box of assorted candies and a small black backpack. It felt normal against my jacket. I then called Toji up.

"Hey Toji..."  
>" Hi man."<p>

"I was wondering if you would mind me making good on my promise to go meet your sister?" I asked.

"Sure man... Uh... I can't be there but I can tell you which hospital and room." He said, rather distracted for some reason.

"That works for me." I said, he then gave me the address and gave me a rather good description of the hospital. I started to walk in that direction, mind set on making due to my promise.


	5. Interjection: First Break

Chapter ?:

A/N: Though this might have nothing to do with the story, I got bored.

Disclaimer: I do not own NGE or anything about it. I do however thank Gainax for giving us the series.

"I feel cold." I said. I could not remember where I was or what I was doing. I felt as if my body had died. Slowly I began to look up, I saw nothing but black, then I looked down, it was the same.

"Baka." I heard in the distance. I could not see where it was coming from, but the voice sounded familiar. It almost brought an image to mind.

Running toward the voice I was nothing still. I felt like breaking down, I could not remember... I wanted to remember... I wanted to... fight? Yes, that's right. I wanted to fight... I had to help someone... I could not remember who...

I kept running and running until my legs gave out. I started dragging myself toward where the voice came from.

"Giving up already? Typical Baka. Why don't you just go run away?" The voice called out in a mocking tone.

"I have to help... I have to save her..." I said aloud, as if to answer the voice.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! I DON'T NEED ANYONE'S HELP!" The voice screeched. Whoever it was, was beyond angry.

"I will not give up. I don't care. I love you." I said to the voice. I was still dragging myself closer and closer to where I was sure the voice came from... I wanted to see... her... at least one last time. I could not remember who she was, but I felt helpless without her.

My legs and arms then snapped like twigs. The pain was unbearable, but I kept trying to push on. I would never give up. I would have rather died than to give up. A voice rang out in utter pain and hopelessness. I soon realized it was my voice. I was screaming, but I didn't remember why.

She then screamed out in pain, bringing a shrill shriek to my ears. "ASUKA!" I called out. That was right. I had to save Asuka... I had to save Asuka... "I HAVE TO SAVE ASUKA!" I screamed.

I woke up in the entry plug. Most of my systems were dead and the Eva had been ripped apart, the arms and legs torn into shreds, my chest plate was gone. "Asuka." I said aloud, no one could hear me, but I had to save her... It was the reason I was in this Eva in the first place. Unit 02... Her Eva... Mine was still being repaired... I had to use it to save Asuka... I needed to save Asuka... I wanted her back...

Without another word the Eva began to power up. The legs had somehow been repaired, but I didn't notice, the arms also reformed after that. I gripped the controls, and started running toward the beast that had swallowed her. Unit 03, the newest edition to the NERV collection. Toji was supposed to be the new pilot, but he had gotten... sick.. yeah, that's right... so Asuka volunteered to do the test run. That's why... all this started. Asuka got into the Eva. She didn't tell me what was going to happen, she just did it on impulse... But I had to save her now...

I charged the newer Eva. It turned around to face me and roared, as if knowing a battle was to ensue. Unit 02 did the same. It returned the call of battle. I jumped onto other Eva. It bared it's large red teeth to me, though I knew they were only the armor, I could see a bunch of red spikes inside the mouth, most likely the beast's real teeth.

"Asuka." I said once again under my breath. I would not let this beast steal her from me, nor anyone. I had to make sure she was safe again. I wanted her back, had to have her back.

It grabbed onto my sides, then tried to push me off. I held firm to it's head. I was standing on it's shoulders to get a better leverage point. It tried to rip me off once again, but I held firm. I had to save Asuka. I tightened my grip on head, and wrenched it out of place. The head went flying as I flipped off of the beast's back, slamming it into the ground.

I could see the entry plug in the back. It was covered with a white webbing. I knew that I had to get it out. Asuka was in there. I had to save Asuka. I sprinted over to the momentarily stunned Eva. I ripped it's arms off as soon as I got to it. I didn't want it to interrupt. I ripped out it's knife from the shoulder pylons. I had lost mine a while back. I jammed the knife it's back and twisted it against the plug, slowly extracting it. It finally popped out enough for my hands to grab it. I ripped it the rest of the way out. White tendons served to keep the connection to the Eva going. Unit 03 was still alive on the ground, but could not move. I had it pinned underneath my Eva. Using the knife I severed the white connections. I kept the plug near my chest. I didn't want to risk damaging it.

I took the knife and stabbed the Eva repetitively. I kept stabbing until I broke through the armor plate, exposing it's core. I delivered the knife into it's core, watching as sparks began to fly out of the knife. Unit 03 just start gargling, it's head had been removed.

Unit 03 stopped moving. I left the knife in the shattered core. Slowly I got up and walked over to a nearby river. The sky had turned dark, and stars could be seen in every direction. "Let's sit on the riverside and watch the stars, at least one last time." I said aloud, though I knew she couldn't hear me. My body felt as if it was breaking down, but I had her now.

I sat the Eva down, crossing it's legs in a meditative pose. I held her plug in one hand, and the other I set across Unit 02's neck. I ejected my plug far enough that I could get a good hold on the arm. How I made my way down the arm was a haze, I couldn't see straight, or think straight. All that mattered was her.

I got to the plug and found the hatch. I pulled out the handles and twisted with all my strength. I felt them start to move, and the hatch exploded outwards. LCL began pouring out of the plug. I pushed my way inside the plug. The darkness was total. I could not see, but I knew where she was. I pushed myself further inside the plug and felt her hair. I then reached down and felt her hand. I grabbed a hold of it and pulled her toward the entrance. Her skin was warm to the touch, I knew she was still alive. I reached the entrance and pushed her out onto the Eva's palm gently. I crawled my way out right after her. She was laying down. I slowly crawled closer to her, then took her and pulled her closer to me. "She's so warm." I said. I held her in my hands and looked up to the sky, without the lights of the city, everything was so easy to see.

She moved a bit in her sleep and eventually woke up. She slowly clamped down further on me, as if she didn't believe I existed. "Baka?" She said, sobbing softly into my chest.

"Don't worry. You're safe now. I saved ~" I said with a weak smile then my body finally let out. If I died I didn't care, I saved her, my purpose was complete.


End file.
